Weekly News Roundup – 4 January 2013

The week is coming to an end and that means it is time for us to look back on the week that passed, the best design news, resources and other goodies. This week we look at 30 Stunning User Interface examples, how you can provide unique value to your clients, 9 pitfalls of of web hosting and how to avoid them, furthermore we take a look at how you can make your website more tablet friendly as well as great ways to use the website footer.

User interface is extremely important for any type of application because without an intuitive design, the user will probably try to find an alternative to that app. The success of web applications and websites depends in how effective the user interface design is. Designing a good user interface however is a very challenging task. According to Apple, a great application has the focus on content. Simply, it must be realistic and must take full advantage of device capabilities to enable enhanced interaction. A user interface that is unattractive, convoluted, or illogical can make even a great application seem like a chore to use, so when you design the UI, you must have in mind how your users think, act and work. In this article you can see 30 gorgeous examples of user interface design for various types of applications.

There are nearly 70 million tablet users in the U.S. alone, a figure that has doubled from the year before. This means that nearly 30% of the country’s Internet users are browsing on a tablet device. Tablet traffic to e-commerce sites grew by 348% from 2011 to 2012, overtaking smartphone traffic for the first time. With the tablet market as young as it is, its footprint is only going to expand. This trend sends a strong message: If you haven’t already, now is the time to prioritize your website’s design considerations for tablet functionality. Ignoring this could negatively impact your website’s overall conversion rate, return visits, sales and more.

For our last web design inspiration list of 2012 we decided to gather examples of beautiful illustrated elements in web design. We believe that illustrated elements can give a nice touch and personality to a design. From subtle illustrated details to complete colorful sketched pages, the key is finding the right amount to use for each project. So today we have several different approaches on how to incorporate illustrated elements in a website. Enjoy!

Techniques, technology and terminology change constantly in web design, and keeping up with them is crucial to your success in online design and development. Device-agnostic and responsive design are two of the current hot terms being bandied around in technology circles, and often in the same sentence. With the increasing use of a wide variety of internet-enabled mobile devices, web designers and developers are encouraged to keep work responsive; adapting content and design elements to the limitations of whichever device is being used. However, labelling responsive design as a technique using the device agnostic approach is a tricky business. What exactly is the device-agnostic approach, and is it even necessary to identify it as an approach to responsive design?

If you’ve ever purchased organic food from a grocery store or farmer’s market, you know that it can be, well, pricey. Some people report as much as a 300% increase in their grocery bill when they buy organic versions of their regular groceries. And is it worth it? Staunch fans of organic living claim that it is.

I want to use this showcase as a peek into modern list styles and design trends. Web designers can be found all around the world who have been studying the creating the newest market trends. These designers are the molders and shapers of our future design community. It is exciting to see how these ideas take shape and form into larger archetypes over time.

If you’re ready to move off Blogge and onto a web hosting service, you’ve probably got a lot of other things on your plate as well. The world of web hosting can be complex and confusing, but we’re looking out for you. We know you want a simple solution tailored to your needs, and with great support services. We all do. But great web hosting is really different for every client. We’ve done the research and found nine scenarios that are either red flags, or should be avoided altogether.

When starting any website project, it’s natural to want to concentrate your design efforts on the homepage and the header. As a result, the footer often becomes an afterthought – relegated to a poorly designed dumping ground for copyright information, legal disclaimers and spammy SEO links. But it shouldn’t be this way.

Workless is a clean & classy HTML5, CSS3 framework that helps you to get your project up and running as fast as possible and helps prevent repetitive tasks. It standardizes CSS, improves usability and interaction, sets base typography to help vertical rhythm and readability and adds helper classes to style elements easily. You can either start with the base setup, or drop the files and assets into your current project and simply reference the CSS and Javascript files in your source. Once you’ve done this you can then begin adding your own application specific CSS.

Considering the fact that WordPress is the most popular Content Management System out there and serves many users, it’s no wonder that developers feel encouraged and motivated to create themes for WordPress. After all, the gigantic size of the WordPress’ user base simply means that themes created for WordPress are likely to be used by many people, thereby giving developers good returns for their hard work.